Re: Can I convince the diff algorithm to behave better?

I know that git includes four diff algorithms; in my testing patience
or histogram exacerbated the problem; and none of them improved upon
it.  If anyone has suggestions I'd be curious to know if there's
anything that could be done...

In your particular case, I can't think of anything, but in general, if
one of the lines weren't repeated, you might be able to use the
--anchored option.